5.  The applicants are Mr Adam Baisuev (“the first applicant”) and Mr Rustam Anzorov (“the second applicant”), two Russian citizens of Chechen origin who were born in 1980 and 1979 respectively. At the material time they were residing in Tbilisi, Georgia, where they had refugee status.
6.  According to the applicants, early in the morning of 7 December 2002 police officers arrived at their homes to question them. The police proceeded to search their premises without producing a warrant. Their identity papers were taken from them and the applicants were asked to follow the officers to police station no. 3 in the Vake-Saburtalo district of Tbilisi (“the police station”). There the applicants were photographed and questioned about the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation and asked if they and their family members had been involved. They also had their fingerprints taken. Three hours later they were released and their identity papers were handed back to them.
7.  The Government disagreed with the version of events presented by the applicants. They maintained that on 7 December 2002 the police officers had gone to the applicants’ home to conduct a regular identity check of people living in Tbilisi without registration. The applicants were asked to follow the police officers to Vake-Saburtalo police station, where their ID and refugee cards were checked. The Government rejected the applicants’ contention that their homes had been searched and other investigative measures taken.
8.  According to the Government, the applicants were kept at the police station for thirty minutes. They were released immediately upon completion of the identity check.
9.  According to the applicants, on 20 January 2003 they lodged complaints with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia (“the PGO”), criticising the way the police had acted. They sought explanations regarding the legal basis for the search of their homes, for them being taken to the police station and for the criminal procedural measures to which they had been subjected. The Government maintained that they were unable to find those complaints lodged with the PGO.
10.  On 7 February 2003 the second applicant reiterated his request to the PGO for information concerning his detention. In its reply of 31 March 2003 the investigator from the Vake-Saburtalo District prosecutor’s office explained that the second applicant had not been detained, but had been taken to the police station along with other temporary residents of different nationalities to have his identity and legal status in Georgia checked. The investigator claimed that not a single investigative act had been carried out and that the applicant had been released immediately after the identity check.
11.  On 2 April 2003 the applicants applied to the Tbilisi Public Prosecutor’s office to have criminal proceedings initiated against the police officers who had carried out their detention. According to the applicants, their application was forwarded to the Vake-Saburtalo District prosecutor’s office, which did not reply. The Government again maintained that they were unable to find the applicants’ letter of 2 April 2003, either with the Tbilisi Public or Vake-Saburtalo District prosecutor’s office.
12.  On 17 November 2003 the applicants requested a written reply to their application dated 2 April 2003.
13.  On 19 November 2003 the Vake-Saburtalo District prosecutor’s office replied that on 7 December 2002 the applicants, along with several other Chechen refugees, had not been “arrested”, but had been taken to the police station to have their identity and their legal situation in Georgia checked. Once the check was complete they were released immediately. The prosecutor’s office did not indicate on what legal basis the applicants had been taken to and kept in the police station. No information was provided about the applicants’ request for criminal proceedings to be initiated.
14.  On 18 December 2003 the applicants reiterated their request to the Vake‑Saburtalo District prosecutor’s office and again on 16 January 2004 they received a reply to the effect that they had not been detained but rather taken to the police station for identity check purposes.
15.  On 27 February 2004 the applicants made yet another application to the Vake‑Saburtalo District prosecutor’s office, requesting that the police reports concerning their stay at the police station and the criminal investigative measures to which they had been made subject be made available to them, in accordance with Article 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Georgia (“the CCP”).
16.  In its response, dated 10 March 2004, the prosecutor’s office pointed out that the detention complained of had lasted only thirty minutes. Without indicating the legal basis for holding the applicants, it claimed that bringing them to the police station had not been unlawful. It did inform them, however, that no record had been kept of their presence at the police station.
17.  On 29 August 2005, following communication of the application to the Government, a preliminary investigation was initiated under Article 333 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (abuse of power) concerning unlawful taking of Chechen Russian citizens to various police stations on 7 December 2002. The criminal proceedings covered the case of the second applicant. In addition, on 11 October 2005 similar proceedings were initiated with respect to the first applicant’s incident. The relevant documents submitted by the Government to the Court included only the copies of the decisions to open preliminary investigation. The Government committed to informing the Court about the progress of the relevant proceedings; however, no information has been submitted since then.